OXNARD, Calif. — Jerry Jones said he has not spoken to Dez Bryant since the troubled wide receiver’s arrest, but he almost couldn’t stop talking about Bryant during and even after the club’s opening news conference Sunday afternoon.

And if you took all of what Jones said and boiled it down to its essence, it would say something like this:

The Cowboys don’t know if Bryant is going to become the next Michael Irvin on the field two years after putting Irvin’s jersey number on his back. But they’re going to keep hoping it will happen, if necessary, right to the bitter end.

Jones and coach Jason Garrett said that the club takes Bryant’s assault charge seriously and that they will continue to support Bryant and his mother. And they indicated that until all the information has been gathered, any decision on what they or the NFL might do regarding a possible Bryant suspension (the maximum would be four games) is premature.

While Garrett essentially cut off questions about Bryant after a certain point of the news conference, Jones talked at length to a much smaller gathering of reporters afterward. And this was the most important thing that he said.

“There is no doubt that Dez Bryant is exceptionally talented. It has certainly served to give him the consideration that he’s gotten, frankly in life. And I think he, like all of us, has got to realize where his bread is buttered. You’ve got to realize this is not there for you if you do not adhere to society’s rules,” Jones said.

“We know that controversy is not good overall for the Cowboys and for the league. There are consequences, and we will deal with them as we move along and get more information.”

Jones, of course, dealt with arrests and controversy during the careers of Irvin and others. He saw what distractions did to the team, and he also saw this franchise collect Super Bowl rings in spite of them.

“I believe that society was better for [us] hanging in, in some cases,” Jones said. “I’ve had some that I didn’t hang in with.”

But Jones and Garrett made it clear they expect the offense to bear the burden of carrying this team, at least early in the season when four or five new starters are trying to fit into a defense that required an overhaul.

For that to happen, it means more than Tony Romo handing the ball to DeMarco Murray or throwing it to Miles Austin and Jason Witten. This team needs Bryant to become the player who “slipped” to No. 24 in the 2010 draft. To this point, he has basically played as if late first-round was the proper spot for him even without the baggage his off-the-field behavior has brought.

Bryant looks the part in a football uniform — long, lean and fast. He makes extraordinary catches. He just doesn’t make them very often.

“There is not a more talented receiver that we have or that many people have,” Jones said. “When he is out there on the practice field, you can easily make the case that it’s a man against boys.”

And yet the production never quite supports the Bryant image as a game-breaker.

Bryant did not have a 100-yard receiving game in 2011. The Giants’ Victor Cruz produced more receiving yards last season (no, I’m not counting the four playoff wins) than Bryant managed in two years.

Disappointed and frustrated Cowboys fans may have wished to simply get rid of Bryant, never mind the salary cap consequences. How do you cheer for someone, they ask, who gets arrested for allegedly assaulting his own mother?

Jones may or may not wrestle with that question, but, regardless, he has more than a conscience to consider.

“There’s a lot I do that can’t afford the luxury of impatience,” Jones said.

That quote can be translated into another favorite of Jones: Don’t let your money get mad.

The Cowboys are a big operation. Just as you can say that one player can’t be bigger than the team, it’s also true that for this thing to work and for that championship that Garrett insists is on the way to actually get here, the club’s best players have to perform.

Bryant has offered glimpses of being one of the best. He will get another chance in 2012 to show he deserves the “88” that he wears. Those in charge aren’t sick of his antics just yet.

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About Tim Cowlishaw

Tim Cowlishaw has been The Dallas Morning News' lead sports columnist since July 1998. Prior to that he covered the Cowboys for six seasons and the Stars for three as a beat reporter. He also covered the Rangers as a backup beat writer and was the San Jose Mercury News' beat writer on the San Francisco Giants in the late 1980s.

Tim has been appearing regularly on ESPN"s "Around the Horn" since the show made its debut in November 2002. He also worked with ESPN as part of the network's "NASCAR Now" coverage in 2007-08.

Favorite Dallas restaurants: Park, Nick and Sam's, Kenichi.

Worst sports prediction: His first in college ... that Earl Campbell had no shot at the Heisman Trophy.

Best sports memories: Seeing the Dallas Stars hoist the Stanley Cup long after midnight in Buffalo, watching the Dallas Cowboys win the Super Bowl and Texas win the national title in perfect Rose Bowl settings.